The Administration of a Local Prison Is Debating Implementing a New

Essay

The administration of a local prison is debating implementing a new program tailored to address the challenges of prisoners that score high on both risk and need assessment tools. Prior to implementation of the pilot program, the administration aims to determine the strength of the relationship between high scores on the risk and high scores on the need assessment tool to determine whether the implantation of one program (compared to another program) is even feasible. The results of a random sample of 10 inmates are presented in the table below. Both assessment tools range from 1 to 30, with 1 indicating the lowest level of need and risk and 30 indicating the highest level of need and risk. Compute Spearman's rank-order correlation (rho) and interpret your findings.
$$\begin{array} { l l l } \text { Prisoner D } & \text { Need assessment } & \text { Risk assessment } \\1001 & 20 & 18 \\1002 & 10 & 14 \\1003 & 26 & 30 \\1004 & 12 & 11 \\1005 & 11 & 14 \\1006 & 9 & 13 \\1007 & 21 & 21 \\1008 & 30 & 30 \\1009 & 26 & 24 \\1010 & 3 & 7\end{array}$$